Softball Ranked 25th in May 1 NFCA Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team is ranked 25th in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll, announced May 1.

Eau Claire currently holds a 25-6 record and won the 2013 WIAC regular-season title on Tuesday, its second straight and ninth overall conference title.

Last week, the Blugolds were ranked 23rd, their first time appearing in the top 25 this season.

View May 1 Rankings

Softball Back in NFCA Top 25 Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team is ranked No. 22 according to the week 11 National Fastpitch Coaches Association top 25 poll.

The Blugolds last appeared in the week 5 rankings, announced March 21, at No. 14.

Eau Claire is currently on a 14-game winning streak and hosts the six-team WIAC Tournament, which is set to be contested May 4-6.

View Week 11 Poll

Softball Moves up in NFCA Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team moved up one spot to No. 14 in the March 21 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Poll.

The No. 14 ranking ties for the Blugolds' highest this season as they were also 14th two weeks ago.

The Blugolds currently are 6-2 on the season.

View March 21 Poll

Softball No. 15 in March 14 NFCA Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team is ranked 15th in the March 14 National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll.

The Blugolds opened the season ranked 23rd, then jumped to No. 17 after winning two games. Since then, while the Blugolds are still 2-0, they moved to No. 14 in the third poll and are now 15th.

Coming up, the Blugolds will play 10 games March 18-23 in Florida for Spring Break.

View March 14 Poll

Blugold Softball Ranked in Preseason NFCA Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team is ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason top 25 poll.

The Blugolds, who finished last season with a 29-16 record and advanced to the NCAA tournament, are ranked No. 23 in the season's initial poll.

Eau Claire will open the season Feb. 25.

View Complete Preseason Poll

Paying it Forward...

So it’s been a while since our season ended and I had the intentions of blogging much sooner than July 14th. However, a trip to Florida, taking the GRE, a class, an internship, a job, moving into a new house and a road trip to Okoboji later, I’ve finally gotten the chance to tell you a little story about the day our season ended.

After our season ending loss in the Regional Tournament, a couple of us and our parents decided to go out to eat at Red Robin. Even after crying our eyes out, hugging our teammates and taking 45 minutes to decide where we should eat, we were still feeling a little down. We managed to make it to Red Robin, and forced ourselves to dry our tears so we wouldn’t look like idiots in public. All 25 of us sat down at our tables, parents at one, kids at the other, and it wasn’t even 10 minutes into our conversation when a little girl walked up to our table. She was still wearing her softball uniform from her game earlier that day. She simply said, in a shy 10 year old voice, “do you have any advice for an upcoming softball player?” She was so precious and nervous to talk to us. The look on her face was that as if she were meeting the USA Olympic team. We gave her three tips: “Work Hard, always try your best and most importantly, have fun.” Her smile gleamed from ear to ear, she said thank you, and sat back down at her table.

From that point on, I don’t think we talked anymore about losing. That little girl put us at ease. We laughed, joked around, and joined in with the waitresses in the happy birthday song about 10 times (even the dads sang along!). We then decided to put our brains together and do something special for the little girl, whose name was Emily J We went and got a softball out of one of our cars and asked the waitress for a Sharpie. We all signed the ball and wrote a little message for her on it. When I went over and gave it to her, I swear she had tears in her eyes. Emily thanked us several times and so did her parents. Throughout the dinner we kept glancing over at her. She ate with her fork in one hand, the ball in the other, and refused to put it down. She even had her parents take her picture with it. It was adorable and it made our hearts melt.

Emily, a 10 year old girl, made us all think about what softball is really about that day. It’s not about winning or losing (although I will say winning is wayyyyy more fun!). It’s about taking your dedication to the game, your work ethic, your sweat, your scrapes, your bruises, your tears, your joys, your LOVE for the game, and paying it forward, and passing it on.

This story reminds me of one of my favorite quotes.

“This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good.”

I see this quote every day at my internship and it always reminds me of the day at Red Robin. I’m blessed to have had that experience to help me put my frustration and sadness of ending my junior season, into a different and better perspective. Thank you, Emily.
I look forward to many more memories as we all will come together one last time for our end of the season banquet in August. This team was so special, and after not having seen several of my teammates since finals week, I’m ecstatic to relive some of our favorite memories from 2011! Thank you again to everyone who was involved in our 2011 season. It was certainly one to remember and one to celebrate.

Em

Guess What We're Doing this Weekend?

My face hurts from smiling, my eyes hurt from crying and my heart hurts from fluttering. These have been an intense 24 hours but I can finally sigh in relief that the 2011 Blugolds are on the map! The range of emotions that I have felt over the conference tournament and into this morning are impossible to describe but I'll do my best for those of you who didn't get to witness it first hand.

Friday: We all loaded the bus after morning classes to start our journey into a post season run. As Karen said, we all read our anticipated spotlights that had us all in tears of joy and laughs of love. To keep the relaxed mood going, we watched the infamous "Ellen Degeneres, Here and Now" stand up comedy that ALWAYS keeps me laughing even though I can recite the whole thing by heart. When we got to the field, our warm up was shortened, and intensified but there were still nerves flowing through us but nerves were a natural feeling considering the circumstances. We knew this game would dictate the battles and challenges we would have to face the rest of the weekend. Challenge Accepted. We came out with the most energy that I've seen from this team the whole year. We battled a dominating pitcher for the first 6 innings and after an amazing diving catch by baby birdie Jenny Hess, we had the momentum going into the 7th. We knew we were in good hands when we lead the inning off with a walk and 6 runs later...BOOM. We were on the scoreboard. Yes, we gave up 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th but isn't the point of softball to score more runs than your opponent ?? Thought so...check...we did that and started the tourney 1-0 :)

Saturday: After breakfast and a wonderful morning of being able to sleep until 8, we were ready for game two. We were facing a LaCrosse team that had been on a role as of late. We came out of the gates scoring our first run right away. But once again, LaCrosse got the best of us for the 3rd time this year and we were handed our first loss. To be honest, I don't remember much of this game. If there is anything Coach and Robin have taught me through my struggles this year is that you have to let it go. Holding on to negative experiences whether it be defensive plays or at-bats will only make your future successes few and far between. It took me a while to really buy into this concept because I'm stubborn and I'll admit it. But I think I've finally grasped the lesson and thus, I just let that LaCrosse game go. We still had another game to play. Our bats came out hot against Superior scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the first. And once again, having to supply the energy for both teams, with an added morning loss wasn't easy. But we weren't ready to go home yet and kept our post season dreams alive with a 6-1 win.

Sunday:
Three teams left. Eau Claire, LaCrosse and River Falls. We played LaCrosse first. The mentality was much the same as during our first game vs. Whitewater. We were intense but relaxed...we had what I like to call, some serious fun during that game. Our pre game warm up was the same, with the addition of the cupid shuffle by our rhythmically talented infielders. It was a great ball game. We battled LaCrosse the entire way, chasing their starting pitcher from the game and keeping them unbalanced in the batters box. At the end of 7, we once again found ourselves with more runs than our opponent, and like the night before, kept our dreams alive.

Two teams left: Eau Claire and River Falls. We were just starting to play our best ball and we once again were faced with a battle. The game was intense play after great at bat after dominant pitching from both teams. At the top of 7, we were up 4-2 with three outs to go. Somewhere between getting the 2nd and 3rd out, River Falls managed to put up three runs on us to go up 5-4. We threatened in the bottom of the 7th but couldn't get a runner across the plate and thus, had been defeated. Feelings of disbelief and heart break were among all of us. We played so well and yet, found ourselves without an automatic bid into the post season tournament. Without focusing too much on the negatives, I'll just say that in those moments after our loss, standing there with not only my teammates, but some of my best friends, we were devastated to say the least. We didn't know if we'd have a shot at an at large bid and thus. It could have been the last time the 2011 Blugolds were on the field together. It hurt and it made me sick to my stomach. None of us knew what to think.

It was hard to stay positive after that game. We knew there was still a chance at a bid, but it wasn't in our control anymore. We had to play the waiting game which I can now tell you is my least favorite game of all time, hands down. I personally couldn't get too positive or too negative about the situation because going to either extreme had the potential to set me up for heart break once again. I was a zombie. Not knowing if I would play again this season simply didn't seem real. I didn't want to believe it.

Monday:
Wake up at 5:00am...I can't sleep. The weather certainly isn't giving me extra hope and guess what I have to do? Go to class. Awesome. The selection show wasn't until 11:00am so I had to make it through two classes, dodging the question on how the weekend went and when my next game was. At 10:50 I booked it up the hill, met up with my teammates and coaches, and prepared for the moment. Linked arm and arm, we sat there waiting. To make matters worse, we play in a state where every school starts with "The University of Wisconsin...." so each time we heard Wisconsin, our hearts raced, only to find out it said Whitewater, or La Crosse. We got to the Eau Claire regional, the first four teams were announced and then it popped up on the screen. THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-EAU CLAIRE. You'll have to watch the video of us to see our reaction because I can't do it justice by trying to explain it. Hugs, tears, laughs...you name it, it was there. We made it. We got to continue our dream of a post season run. We were given a second chance and for that, we are all very grateful. For me though, it's more than that.

As an upper classman, I've been to regionals before: my freshmen year. We received an at large bid that year to the Illinois Wesleyan regional but I didn't even get to set foot on the dirt. In 2009 we had more players on the team than the NCAA allowed to suit up during the post season. We had two more than the allotted number and thus, I was one of two players who had to witness the action from the bleachers. I couldn't be in the dugout or warm up or even play catch. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a college softball player. Not being able to be with my team during that time made me frustrated, upset, angry, sad, and happy for my teammates all at the same time because of what they got to experience. I wanted nothing more than to be with them during such an exiting and amazing time and I couldn't. I remember it like it was yesterday. The feelings, the tears....everything.

So this year, getting into Regionals is extra special. I finally get to experience what my fellow upperclassmen got to experience without me in 2009. I get a chance to play and lead a team in the post season. I get to step out on the dirt and participate, and I get to do it at Gelein nonetheless. And what makes it extra special? Every single one of us 2011 Blugolds gets to suit up. Our entire team will be there together, fighting until the end. No one will have to experience what I had to in 2009 and for that, I am ecstatic and grateful. Coach said it best after our River Falls loss in that "there's just something special about this group of girls. I don't know what it is, but there's just something." I couldn't agree more. I couldn't imagine playing with 20 more amazing people that I call my teammates and my best friends. Being able to play on our home field, in front of the best crowd in Division III and to have all of us there doing it together, makes going through everything we've had to go through soooooooo worth it. I didn't think it was possible but my love of softball has grown even more these past few days. This game is constantly changing my life and my relationships with those around me for the better. Each and every day that I'm surrounded by my Blugold family I realize even more that I'm truly blessed to play on this team. Ladies, I cannot wait to see what's in store for us as we finally get our chance to Chase the Dream.

Until Next Time,
Em

No Time Like Tourney Time

It's morning of the WIAC tournament.  The Blugolds, ranked 4th, are facing the Whitewater Warhawks, ranked 3rd, this afternoon at 2:00 pm in River Falls.

Our record is 0-0 at this point.  Nothing else matters.  We are bringing our ultimate "A-game", complete intensity, and constant enthusiasm today.  The energy on the bus is already positive, especially after distributing the highly anticipated "Spotlights."  We all have taken time to acknowledge each contributing member of this team to spotlight how much we appreciate them.  Today, this team is more eager than ever to step onto the field together and bring it.

Well, it's 10:30 a.m. and it's already 58 degrees.  And I should mention it is a high of 68.  There's blue skies.  Sun shining.  Trees budding.  I am finally wearing sunglasses...and get this...SHORTS.  Sure, I have my 6,000 other layers packed - my UnderArmour get-up, 2 pairs of mittens, wool socks (that I happened to borrow and not return after the last freezing game from AT Dickie), 2 sweatshirts, 2 jackets, mayyybe 4 long sleeves, and my fleece blanket - but I am rejoicing that I won't be huddled beneath my blanket, putting all my energy into retaining my body heat.  Sure, everyone will be blinded by my snow-white, sun-deprived skin, but I'm just ecstatic for a beautiful day to be at a ball game.  And not just ANY ball game...it's the first game of the WIAC.  Let's get it, 'golds!

- Karen Hansen, Student Manager

UWEC Blugold Fastpitch Softball 2011-05-03 18:51:00

Returning home …

This weekend we travel to the conference tournament, to a place I called home for 6 years. It is a place of familiarity to me. I know the field like the back of my hand: the smells, the sounds, the familiar faces, everything about it. I spent more time on that field than anywhere else on campus and it shows by my grades :). I’ve seen wonderful things happen on that field; I’ve seen amazing plays, team unity, pride, and home runs that seem like they can go forever.

But this will be the first time I travel back to my former home proudly wearing the new colors of blue and gold. I’m with a different team now. A team that works harder than any team I know of and the girls will attest to this after on of their hard conditioning workouts. Its a team that really is a team where everyone contributes and everyone has ownership to its success.

For a long time I was an outsider looking in wondering how does a program like Eau Claire continue to succeed year after year? How do they get their teams to perform at their fullest potential every time out? When I arrived this fall and joined the team I learned quickly why. To start off the main coaching staff here is some of the best coaches you can find in DIII softball. They know how to win and they expect to win every time out. If you know Coach, you know what I am talking about. She is one of the most competitive people I have ever met. Loosing is not in her vocabulary. But because of her competitiveness, her players learn how to win and they soon expect the same things she wants. People have asked “what is it like to play there?” The pressure to play at the top level at all times must be intense and overwhelming. It can be but as we say “Pressure is a Privilege”.

One of the things that got said this fall by a staff member has stuck with me till this point. There are 400+ colleges at the Division III level, 50 of those teams will pull to the top to compete for a National Championship by the end of fall. When you come back in the winter after practicing in the off season on your own there will be 20 teams at that point that have worked hard enough when a coach wasn’t there that will make a legit run for the 8 team championship. Will you be one of those teams? I honestly believe that we have put in the work necessary to be one of those top 8 teams. There was so much time spent in the gym taking those extra cuts, getting the extra grounders, working out and climbing their way to the top, and putting in the extra work when no one else was looking. Take pride in the hard work you have put in. Go on and dominate for yourself and for your team. You owe this to yourself.

I want to leave you with a few parting quotes:

“A true champion is someone who wants to make a difference, who never gives up, and who gives everything she has no matter what the circumstances. A true champion works hard and never loses sight of her dreams”. –Dot Richardson

“It’s always about wanting to one-up myself from the day before. There’s never an absolute 100% perfect performance, but going out and striving for that perfect performance is what keeps me going.” – Cat Osterman

“A winner’s strongest muscle is her heart”-Cassie Campbell

“You have to chase your dreams, no matter what. The impossible just takes a little longer. One stroke at a time, one step at a time, the impossible is easy to achieve.” –Tori Murden

Food For Thought

Hello All,

I have finally made it to the blog (well overdue, I know).  I will admit that Coach gave me some motivation to sign on to read over Em’s post from last week about David.  When we hear stories like David’s or when we experience the pain through someone else as they suffer a loss of somebody near and dear to their heart, I believe it is a wakeup call for most, if not all.  I have found, however, that as I have heard these stories growing up, it is easy to let them affect you for just the time being—not long term.  Just over the past two years, have I finally begun to remember others’ unfortunate stories each and every day that I am here.   Sadly, I used to carry the attitude that my loved ones, and most importantly my family, would be here day in and day out.  I realize today, and every day, how truly lucky I am to lie in bed each night and be able to thank God for allowing my loved ones to remain in my life for one more whole day.

This brings me to a status I came across on Facebook posted by the one and only, Karen Hansen.  I’m sure some of you chuckle or sigh at the fact that I mentioned Facebook, but I am a huge quote person, and I definitely hit the “like” button for her status!  This status read: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  This status can obviously be interpreted in many different ways; it reminded me of several different things.

One of the things that it reminded me of was the people in my life.  I am the person I am and I cannot change whether or not I am accepted for that.  Another one of my favorite quotes to go along with this idea states that “Those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”  There are other things about life in general that this status can pertain to, but I will jump to explain what it means to me in terms of softball.

While Em has already made this point, allowing ourselves to get flustered because of a weather delay or the wrong kind of sandwich is simply silly.  It may not be the most ideal situation, but there could be much worse situations that we could be presented with.  We cannot control the weather, but we can control our attitude about it.  As long as we have tried out hardest, we cannot control if we get thrown out on a steal or strike out at the plate.  Even though frustration is an acceptable emotion in this situation, we can control if we choose to instead move on and learn from our mistakes.  These are only two of many examples related to softball.  I am plenty guilty of complaining or making comments about little and uncontrollable things, which is why I think it was important to come across a status like Karen’s.  Not to mention, I can’t begin to count how many times my parents have told me to “Control the controllables” (another good reminder).

A couple of weeks ago Jess and Sam presented their leadership lesson.  They closed with the challenge for each of us to fulfill a promise we made.  I have not yet done that, but I am now committing and promising to myself to not complain about the little and unimportant things in life.  What is your promise?  On this note, I will end with the understanding that my post may have been a bit intense, if you will, for some.  However, I think it is good for us all to hear once and a while.

I have a feeling tomorrow we are going to need a broom after we SWEEP River Falls!  See y’all then!

-Britt

A Week in the Life - Day 2

As promised, I'm following up with Saturday, so here goes.....

Approximately 6:00 a.m. - wake up, have my coffee (you'll see this entry a LOT, as it's the way I start EVERY day - the only variable is the time I get up) Have breakfast, get packed (a full duffle bag of about every possible option for warm clothing - you can never prepare too much for the possibility of cold weather), and finish getting ready to go.

7:45 a.m. - leave the house a little early because we discovered a broken bat yesterday so I need to make a quick stop at our local sporting goods store to get a replacement bat.

8:05 a.m. - arrive on campus to get the bus loaded - but wait! NO BUS!!! You've got to be kidding me! We just confirmed this yesterday - Coach Baker calls the emergency number for the bus company and we're told the bus is at Hwy 53 and Hwy 29 - still 20 minutes away, and we're scheduled to LEAVE at 8:30. I'm NOT happy - we soon find out the driver was told to be here at 8:45 - NO, that is supposed to be NEXT Saturday, not THIS Saturday.

At this point it is raining and some doubt about whether or not we'll be able to play creeps into everyone's minds, but the players know better than to ask me because for one, Oshkosh is 3 1/2 hours away, so just because it's raining here, doesn't mean it's raining there; and two, regardless of the weather, we are always preparing "as if."

The players wait inside the McPhee Center with their bags and the equipment, as I keep my displeasure with the bus situation under control.

8:40 a.m. - the bus finally arrives and the players move to the bus with all their gear faster than they typically run from home to 1st - they know we were supposed to be on the road 10 minutes ago and they joke that we'll need to implement our "flat tire" pregame warmup. Our "flat tire" warmup, as we've named it, is an abbreviated version of our pregame warmup - it is designed (and we have practiced it) so in the event something happens that is out of our control on the way to a road game (like a flat tire), we don't go into panic mode thinking we'll never play well because we didn't get a full warmup.

8:45 a.m. - we are pulling out of the parking lot - the bus driver knew he was late, and we loaded that bus with reckless abandon - hence, only 5 minutes of time has passed since the bus arrived and we are pulling out.

We experienced some heavy mist for a good part of the ride to Oshkosh, but were confident that we were going to get the games in. During the ride, the coaches discuss strategy and our opponent while the players typically sleep, watch a movie, some do homework, and eventually they all eat - we take food with us so they can have a sandwich or whatever else they need/want while we're on the bus. Doing it this way saves us money, and we're able to keep our players in class more because we don't have to leave an hour early just so we can stop and eat along the way. (By the way, today's movie choice - Pirates of the Carribean)

12:00 p.m. - we arrive in Oshkosh at the softball field right on time - the trip is pretty quick on Hwy 29 to Wausau, 39 south to Stevens Point, then Hwy 10 over to the Fox Valley area. All 4 lane - just the way I like it. They players prefer that type of trip as well, as opposed to the Decorah, Iowa, trip, which resulted in more car sickness than I've ever experienced before on a single trip!

Pregame warmup as usual - but everyone had wet socks due to all the rain they had received the night before - oh well, they'd get wet eventually anyway.

2:00 p.m. - game time - we pull off a double header sweep at Oshkosh - always a very difficult feat to win on the road there.

6:00 p.m. - the bus pulls out from the stadium, minus a few players who have elected to ride home with their parents to spend Easter with their families tomorrow. The players and staff who remain on the bus make a stop at Culver's for some food on the go. The ride home will be enjoyable because everyone feels good about what we accomplished today - plus we all know we have an entire day off from work and classes tomorrow - life is good.

Movie choice on the bus ride home - Enchanted - which we receive bonus singing from Emily Muller and Ashley Meinen - I couldn't even hear the actual movie because they were bellowing in my ears. By the way, the players all CHOSE to sit at the front of the bus on the ride home. They will never admit it, but they really do LOVE their coaches and just wanted to spend quality time with us on the way home. :)

Second movie option - The Incredibles. I really wanted to watch this movie, but there was so much chatter going on I couldn't hear it, so I finally put in my earphones and watched a video podcast.

10:00 p.m. - arrive back in Eau Claire - exhausted, but happy. Load the food bins in the Pilot, haul the equipment to the storage room, load the dirty uniforms into a big bag to take home.

10:45 p.m. - arrive at home - put one load of uniforms in the washing machine. Have to do laundry at home tonight because the equipment/laundry room won't be open to do the unis before we play again on Monday.

11:30 p.m. - or approximately that time - after a little unwinding with a bit of TV, the eyes won't stay open anymore, so it's off to dreamland.

Easter Sunday up tomorrow. See you then!

Coach H.

Softball Moves up in NFCA Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team moved up in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll, announced April 27.

The week 11 poll has the Blugolds tied for 23rd. A week ago they were 25th.

View Week 11 Poll

A Week in the Life - Day 1

As I sit here at my kitchen table watching the rain come down (at least it's rain rather than snow this time!), I'm reflecting on the past few days and considering what to write about. This invitation to blog has been staring at me, as my student manager, Karen, has used the subtlety of sending me a "reminder" about posting......ok Karen, I get it! :)

The season has presented its share of challenges. The weather has been the most persistent of them all. We've faced our share of adversity - and I don't use that term lightly. So what of the "life lessons" we are learning as we trek through another season of Blugold softball?

So as I sit here, trying to be profound, what keeps coming to mind is doing a series of entries about a "day in the life" or "week in the life" of a Division III softball coach.

So I think I'll go back to last week - I'll just pick Friday as my starting point and we'll go from there.

To start, I'm an assistant athletic director, so my job is not just coaching softball. At this time of year, I'm actually working very hard on getting things ready to go for summer orientation as well as Fall 2011 for the teams to come back to campus and start practices. So I spent a few minutes with the women's hockey coach determining when his team athletics orientation meeting would be held next fall.

Also as an assistant AD, I am in charge of facilitating team evaluations at the end of each season. I use a pretty slick computer program through the University, but I have to enter every email address and name manually (well, I use copy/paste for the email address) :) So I spent a good part of the morning setting up the emails to go out to the spring sport athletes.

After having lunch at my desk, it was time to load equipment into my vehicle to take outside for practice. Another challenge with the ever-changing weather - the equipment spends more than its fair share of time in the back of my Honda Pilot!

So Friday was the day after a double header, but the day before a double header as well - a pretty typical schedule for the spring of 2011, given all the changes the weather has forced upon us. What was the forecast? Cold, windy, and possible rain. Ah, what the heck, practicing outside will make us tougher - plus, there were just things we HAD to do that couldn't be done in the gym. So outside it was.

Now, there are certain things that I will compromise on - how LONG we practice outside is one of them, especially when the wind chill dips into the 30's. So we had a plan of things we needed to do outside where space makes all the difference, and our goal was to be done in 1 hour. Mission accomplished.

After that 1 hour, however, we had not done any hitting. So back into the gym we went. Friday afternoon was Good Friday, so basically the entire student body was gone - no worries in having to chase pick up hoops players out of the gym. Bring the cages down, get the pitching mats out, and away we go for about another hour. At this point in the season, we have done drill after drill after drill - the players have certain drills that are their favorites and certain drills, that although not their favorites, are necessary for them to get better - those are the things we work on inside.

As we start to hit and pitch, the rain comes down in sheets - good decision to come inside when we did.

We're supposed to play the next day in Oshkosh - thankfully they have a tarp to protect the infield. But are we 100% certain at this point that we'll play? Not really - but like most other days, we have to prepare "as if." We have to know for sure by 7:30 a.m. the next day because that's our deadline to cancel the bus so we don't get charged. My assistant coach, Amber Dohlman, made her regular trip to Sam's Club earlier today to get meat, bread, cheese, etc., so we can save money by fixing sandwiches on the bus on the way to the game

Get the gym cleaned up, put up the cages, put the mats away - unless you hear from me, bus leaves at 8:30 a.m.

9:45 p.m. - Oshkosh calls - we should be a go for tomorrow. No need to cancel the bus. Good night.

"A week in the life" continues with Saturday - tomorrow. See you then.

Coach

A Bus Ride

Hey All,

This is Coach Husted; I'm the volunteer pitching coach this season for the 'golds and since it has been many years since I've coached at the college game; this is my first time riding the bus in a very long time.

Sure I ride the rental car shuttle from some airport to some rental car facility on a regular basis but this is a full on coach bus experience.

Last week was my maiden voyage, a trip to Whitewater that lasted 4 hours maybe. Right now, we are on the way to Oshkosh.

Here is what happens on the bus...

1. A lot of sleep. As I sit here we have 2 AT's sleeping in the row behind me; Jessa has been out cold since we left and I think Amber is also sleeping. I'd nap BUT the reality is that I'd snore and that probably would get me kicked off the bus. My entire goal is to not get kicked off the bus.

2. We watch movies. So far, here has been the movies we've watched in 2 trips. First we watched "The Blind Side" and "Cars" on the way to UWW. I had never seen "Cars" and based on the first part, I'd probably watch the 2nd half if I found it on cable. On the way back we watched something about Harry Potter (I have no clue). This trip we've started with Pirates of the Caribbean.

3. There is also a decent number of kids who use this time to get homework done. Being a student athlete means you have to have great time management skills and so post game homework is often a key part of that time management process for our brilliant athletes.

But here is my favorite part of the bus trip -- getting from the front of the bus to the back of bus for the water closet. It is the ultimate challenge of under, over and past sleeping legs. You have to look for random players sleeping anywhere and with a small pathway to navigate often you have to use creative problem solving to get to the back. Even more fun, on the way back; kids have shifted etc so you may have a different "course" to tackle on the way back.

I have my trusty stopwatch here, maybe Coach and I can do time trials to see who is quickest; actually... she has a lot more experience at this; maybe I don't want to challenge her after all.

Proving Theories...

And we're back!

With the 199th and 200th shut outs in school history, we're back to 21 wins!!! And more importantly, there aren't 21 losses on the other side of the tally to go with them :)

The double header against St. Mary's was, for lack of a more sophisticated word, FUN! We played two mercy rule games where we saw our bats get hot and our confidence build right before the home stretch of the race for conference champions. Coach also introduced what I'm now calling : The Bubblegum Theory

What is the Bubblegum Theory? Well...it's actually pretty simple, but very logical. If you know anything about UWEC softball, you know that food is very, I mean VERY important to our daily functioning. We go through Noni chews like nobody's business and we literally eat Swedish Fish and Red Vines (even though Twizzlers are WAYYYY better) by the bag full! Inbetween games...we scrounge down muffin after muffin, string cheese after string cheese and pray that we can keep the food down long enough to make it through the second game. If you know anything about UWEC softball, I usually fail in that department :)

Anyway...back to the point: The Bubblegum Theory. This theory states that, "If anyone shall hit a ball over the fence, in fair territory, thus resulting in the number of runs as their are persons on base and up to bat, thou shalt receive a piece of Bubblegum." Ammendment #1 was made to this theory in game two. The ammendment stated "If thou are a slapper and keep said inning alive, in which there is a ball hitteth over the fence, thou shalt recieve a piece of bubble gum from Robin." In non philisophical terminolgy: you hit a home run, you get bubblegum. If you're a lefty slapper whose goal is to bunt the ball 4 feet...we'll give you one anyway for scoring on someone else's homerun. And we PROVED that theory.

After hitting 3 home runs in game one, we followed up that performance with 3 more in game 2! The only non slapper to not hit a home run yesterday: Emily Haluska. But she's a former slapper and hitting like .900 this season so we'll probably just give her bubblegum for being so good anyway :)

We scored a grand total 14 out of 17 runs off the home run ball...Boom, roasted. Also proving another Theory: Food is motivation....at least to softball players who get to run as slowly as please if they hit the ball over the fence!

Until next time,

Em

Softball 25th in Latest NFCA Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team dropped two spots to No. 25 in the latest NFCA top 25 poll.

View Week 10 Poll

Weather? or Whether...

Today at the Luncheon we were asked a question on how we deal with the weather changes, delays, cancellations, and reschedules that come with playing a spring outdoor sport in Wisconsin. I answered with, "it's stressful, not knowing where or when or IF you'll play. But somehow, we manage to do it every year and get by while still passing our classes." However, after further review, it's such a silly thing to be stressed about....

A few weeks ago I had the privilege to attend the NACSM conference in St. Cloud, Minnesota. NACSM is American College of Sports Medicine, Northland Chapter. They host a conference every year for Kinesiology Majors, like myself, to present research studies, findings and of course, have speakers on several topics. And although I was extremely impressed with the keynote speaker, Dr. Len Kravitz, it was David Carle, a 20 year old from Anchorage, Alaska, who impacted me the most...
David Carle, left his childhood home in Anchorage, Alaska at the age of 15 , and came to Minnesota to pursue a career as a professional hockey player. He completed his high school career at Shattuck, St Mary's Prep school with a National Title in 2008 and a full scholarship to Denver Colorado. Before he started his college hockey career, he was invited to the NHL Hockey Combine where the top 75 players in the US come together and perform in front of pro scouts. He made it through every test and drill, including a #1 finish in the Wingate Test. He was a for sure 2nd, maybe 1st round draft pick, and had his whole life ahead of him. The only thing stopping him was the required EKG. And boy, did it stop him.

Two days after the combine, David got an email saying he needed to see a cardiologist at Mayo Hospital concerning his abnormal EKG. After further testing, David found out, the morning of the NHL draft, that he had Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and was told that he needed to withdraw his name from the draft and that he could never again play hockey...talk about a 180...

The walls of his heart, which are normally between 5-9 mm, were 24mm thick, causing restricted blood flow in his left ventricle and thus, making his heart work harder to allow proper function. This disease, where many times, your first symptom is your last, is genetic. You've maybe heard about it on the news one time or another..recently, Wes Leonard, a high school basketball player at Fennville, hit the game winning shot to end their season with a perfect record and within minutes, collapsed and subsequently died on the court. This was result of the same disease, only David's was caught ahead of time. The Wingate test alone should have killed him. It's a test that takes your heart rate from normal to max (over 200bpm) in almost 30 seconds. But he somehow made it through...and with a 1st place finish none the less...

David now has a "box" for lack of a better word, implanted in his chest to monitor his heart rate. He cannot exercise above 160 bpm, so going from a professional athlete, to nothing more than jogging, was an adjustment both physically and mentally. If his HR gets above 220bpm, the "box" sends a shock of 500 Volts to his chest which he said is a similar feeling to getting kicked in the chest by a horse.

Minus the one misfire where the device was reading incorrectly and shocked him unnecessarily, and a collapse on the court at a practice, this device has kept him alive. And not only alive, but minus his heart, he's perfectly healthy. He considers himself very lucky having caught the disease before it killed him and is still AMAZINGLY positive. Hearing him speak, in a sense, made me feel guilty of what I have. But it also makes me grateful as well.

The university of Denver still honored his full ride scholarship and he's now a student coach there. He was also drafted in NHL by the Toronto Lightening, who picked him in the 7th and final round, so that one day he could tell his grandchildren that he was a pro hockey player, even with this disease.

There is a point to my many words...I promise. We complain about weather. We complain about missing classes. We complain about not having internet on our bus. And sometimes we even complain when there's turkey sandwiches but not PB and J. But, moral of the story, one of these days, we'll still GET to play. David, like many others out there, have no choice...he can't ever play hockey again. He doesn't just miss a game here and there because of WEATHER: He misses every game because there's always the risk of WHETHER or not his heart will stop. So, I think we're pretty lucky, even with the snow still falling in April. Stressing about weather or whether or not we'll be stopping to eat on the way home...even missing a game or even a season because we're injured...is minor. Very minor...

David left us all with one remark and it's the one I'll leave with you. "If you have the disease, consider yourself lucky to have found about it while you were still living. If you don't have the disease, consider yourself lucky because now, there is no excuse for you to not push yourself to be the best you can possibly be."

So yeah, our situation isn't ideal...but I'll take this any day over many other things...

Until Next Time...

Em

What's it like to be a Blugold?

What does it take to be a member of the UWEC Blugold Fastpitch team?  Here's a few points that make us the team we are

• Blugolds persevere through ups and downs.
• Blugolds are enthusiastic and eager to lace up their cleats.
• Blugolds stomp it out, to a comfortable tempo, to set the mood of the game.
• Blugolds cheer for their teammates, preferably from the diaphragm. 
• Blugolds huddle and sway in call and response chanting, "GAME TIME."
• Blugolds do their best to have patience with Wisconsin winters...even if it continues into late April.
• Blugolds value the Blugolds of the past and the emblem on their uniforms.
• Blugolds balance softball and studies to maintain sanity.
• Blugolds support one another, on and off the diamond.
• Blugolds laugh at the fear of grass stains, dirty uniforms, or nasty raspberries.
• Blugolds strive to take advantage of each opportunity.
• Blugolds devour Noni chews, Red Vines, and Swedish Fish.
• Blugolds take care of "bid-ness."
• Blugolds depend on each other, but are responsible for themselves.
• Blugolds jump into a cold pool together at 6 am and sprint 16 lines in 60 seconds.
• Blugolds expect excellence.
• Blugolds appreciate the privilege to play.
• Blugolds live to play the game.
• Blugolds execute.
• Blugolds love.

Go ahead and ask a Blugold what it means to them.  Most would say that this is what we are about.  

We are proud to be Blugolds.

- Karen Hansen, Student Manager

Eau Claire Gets Regional Site!

Hello Blugold Fans!

If you don't already know...Eau Claire got selected as one of 8 sites for the NCAA Softball Regionals. We will host 8 teams in a double elimination tournament. The winner of the Regional will go on to Salem for the NCAA National Tournament.

For our team it is a huge motivator. We are playing well right now, but we know that we have to continue to play well so that we get to play in our own Regional! It would mean a lot to us if we got to sleep in our own beds and not miss the last week of classes! Also, it is definite home-field advantage.

For me personally it means a lot to know that we have a chance to win Regionals on our own field. As a freshmen, I was on the team who got to play on Gelein and win a Regional title. It was an amazing experience! After 8 run ruling our first opponent, we got to play the night game vs. Oshkosh. It was PERFECT weather for a night game. Warm, but not hot, and a slight breeze. We had so many fans there to cheer us on! We then got to play St. Thomas, who was highly ranked. We gutted out a victory in 8 innings to play for the Regional title. We then blew away Oshkosh for the title! And the celebration began!

We were so fortunate to have so many fans and parents there supporting us, and I'm hoping we can bring the fans out to support us this year! I am hoping that we continue to play well so that we can play on our field come May 12th!

Sara Baum #10

Softball Up Two Spots in NFCA Poll

The UW-Eau Claire softball team is ranked 23rd, up two spots from last week, according to the NFCA Division III week nine poll.

The Blugolds jumped two spots after compiling a 5-1 record last week. They went 4-0 in conference play and split with then fifth-ranked Central College (Iowa) Saturday.

View Complete National Rankings